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Omaha Plumbing Company Ordered to Repay Wages

dept.-of-justiceOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha plumbing company accused of falsifying payroll records has been placed on probation and ordered to repay more than $138,000 in wages.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Nebraska says Vincentini Plumbing paid employees less than the prevailing wage between June 2010 and July 2011 while the business performed work on two building projects for the public school district in Council Bluffs.

Vincentini Plumbing does business under V & V Construction. A message left for the construction company was not immediately returned Tuesday night.

A press release Tuesday says the company was given three years of probation on charges of violating federal law that requires participants on a qualifying federal contract to pay a prevailing wage. A federal court imposed a $25,000 fine and ordered more than $138,000 in restitution.

That’s Not Mistletoe…North Pole Won’t Block Pot Sales

marijuana-jointNORTH POLE, Alaska (AP) — North Pole residents can put marijuana on their Christmas list next year.

The city council in North Pole, Alaska, rejected a measure Monday that would have banned marijuana dispensaries. Marijuana became legal in Alaska in February, and sales begin next year.

Even Santa Claus — yes, that’s his real name — testified in favor of selling pot in this Christmas-themed town, where light poles resemble candy canes.

Claus said he is medical marijuana patient, and he’d like to buy pot in North Pole instead of making the short drive to Fairbanks.

Some worried how others might perceive North Pole if marijuana dispensaries are allowed. But one council member noted North Pole already allows the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and guns.

Omaha Mayor: City-Based Texts on Private Phones Won’t Be Public

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha mayor has issued an executive order that says city-related text messages on the personal cellphones of city employees won’t be considered a public record.

But the Nebraska attorney general’s office says otherwise, concluding in a legal opinion issued last month that government-related texts are public record even if they’re on a private cellphone.

It weighed in on the issue after the Omaha World-Herald asked the office to clarify the status and public’s access to officials’ texts involving government business. The newspaper’s executive editor says the mayor “openly defies” the attorney general’s legal opinion on the matter.

Mayor Jean Stothert’s order announced Monday discourages city staff from conducting business through texts and advises them to instead communicate through email.

Trial Set for Central City Man Charged with Attempted Murder

judgeshipCENTRAL CITY, Neb. (AP) — An October trial has been scheduled for a 48-year-old Central City man charged with attempted murder and other crimes.

Ricky Clauff pleaded not guilty on Monday in Merrick County District Court to five felony and seven misdemeanor counts. His trial is set to begin Oct. 13.

The charges stem from an April 1 incident in Clarks. Court documents say Clauff threatened to kill his niece’s boyfriend, chasing the man around town on foot and trying to run him over in a car.

Nebraska Foundation Buys $895K House for System President

university-of-nebraskaLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Foundation has bought an $895,000 house in Lincoln for the University of Nebraska president.

The university said in a news release Tuesday that the deal closed Monday on the house. It is owned by the foundation and, besides future occupation by President Hank Bounds and his family, will be used for events with students, university employees, donors and others.

A Lincoln house bought in December 2013 to become the official residence was later judged unsuitable and put on the market. University spokeswoman Melissa Lee says it remains unsold.

In 2012 the Board of Regents returned to the long-standing practice of using nonstate funds to provide an official residence. The university had done so for more than three decades until 1996, when a fire destroyed the home.

Man Survives Jump Off Iowa-Nebraska Highway Bridge

veterans-memorial-bridgeSOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 53-year-old man has survived after jumping off a Missouri River bridge in northeast Nebraska.

South Sioux City Police Sgt. Chris Chernock says the man climbed to the top of the arch around 6:30 p.m. Monday on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The bridge carries U.S. Highway 77 traffic between South Sioux City in Nebraska and Sioux City, Iowa. Northbound bridge traffic was blocked during the incident.

Chernock says the man jumped a little before 7:40 p.m., falling an estimated 130 feet into the water. The South Sioux City Fire Department’s rescue boat soon reached the man and took him to shore.

Police identified the man as a transient, James Brewer. He was listed in stable condition on Tuesday morning at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City.

Speeding Motorcyclist Dies After Collision, Omaha Police Say

fatal-motorcycle-crashOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 26-year-old man has died after his motorcycle collided with a car in northeast Omaha.

The accident occurred around 6:15 p.m. Monday. Police say two northbound motorcyclists were speeding and weaving in and out of slower-moving traffic when one of the motorcycles struck a southbound car that was turning east.

Police say the motorcyclist died shortly after arriving at a hospital. He was identified as Dillon Krivohlavek (krih-VOLH’-uh-vehk), of Omaha. The car driver and her three passengers were not injured.

The other motorcyclist left the scene and is being sought by police.

Bids for Private Lunch with Warren Buffett Top $1 Million

Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The price of a private lunch with Warren Buffett is already over $1 million, and the online auction continues all week.

The top bid Monday afternoon was $1,000,100, so the California charity that will receive the proceeds is guaranteed another significant donation.

Buffett is chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, and many people want the 84-year-old’s advice on investing, philanthropy and life in general.

Through the annual auctions, Buffett has raised $17.9 million for the Glide Foundation, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco.

Bidding continues until 9:30 p.m. CDT Friday. Last year’s auction winner paid $2,166,766, but the 2012 auction set a record with its $3,456,789 winning bid.

Judge Adds 7 Years to Erica Jenkins’ Life Sentence

Erica Jenkins
Erica Jenkins

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge has added seven years to Erica Jenkins’ life sentence for assaulting three jail guards.

Jenkins was sentenced Monday for the assaults she pleaded no contest to.

Jenkins maintains that she was defending herself in the altercations with guards. But prosecutors say Jenkins has continually acted out and attacked officers.

In January, Jenkins was sentenced to life in prison plus up to 100 years for her role in the 2013 shooting death of Curtis Bradford.

Jenkins in the sister of Nikko Jenkins, who last year was convicted in the killing of Bradford, as well as the 2013 shooting deaths of Andrea Kruger and two others in separate attacks.

Man Convicted of Killing Girl, 4, in Oven Wants New Trial

gavel-and-scaleAUBURN, Maine (AP) — A federal magistrate says a Maine man convicted of killing a 4-year-old girl by placing her in an oven should be allowed to argue he was too mentally ill to file a timely appeal.

The judge’s recommendation provides a possible avenue for 66-year-old John Lane to seek a new trial three decades after he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

The Auburn man was convicted of murder in 1985 for placing Angela Palmer in an oven, turning up the heat and blocking her escape by putting a chair under the handle of the oven door.

Lane contends his lawyer was ineffective and says drugs provided in prison left him “cognitively diminished, if not incapacitated.” The state attorney general will seek to uphold his conviction and sentence.

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